ASUS Radeon HD 5870 1GB V2 Review

With all of the pomp and fanfare surrounding the release of NVIDIA’s latest cards, it was a bit hard for most people to take a look around in order to see what else was going on in the GPU market. Some minor releases passed by and most people were none the wiser simply because there was next to zero marketing done and as a result the products themselves quietly slipped into the retail channels. We’re not talking about the barn-burners like Gigabyte’s Super Overclock or the much-delayed ASUS Matrix Edition here. Rather, our thoughts center on an unassuming card that has been available for the last few weeks: the ASUS HD 5870 V2.

When we first previewed the “V2”, there was an outpouring of interest from our readers and everyone wanted to know more details. The most important thing to remember is that while we call this card the “V2”, the only place this designation shows up is in the ASUS part number. The only way to distinguish this card from the older reference product is to take a look at the product photos because this is one unique-looking HD 5870.

It is important to remember that ASUS will no longer be producing a reference-based HD 5870 and has instead decided to replace it with this V2 edition. Without a doubt, this is a gutsy move since on average the HD 5870 V2 retails for slightly more than most reference-based products. We aren’t talking about an extreme difference but its $10-$20 price premium over some reference products can have an impact upon anyone’s budget. What do you get for this extra money? According to ASUS they have equipped the V2 with improved cooling capabilities, a slightly more robust PCB design and their Voltage Tweak software that can push overclocks to new heights. Otherwise, this version retains the stock speeds and capabilities of all stock HD 5870 cards.

One of the main things that you should be concerned about in this type of situation is that there are still quite a few first generation ASUS HD 5870 cards bumming around the market right now. As such, you should be a bit careful and do your research before you take the plunge and pop down a good chunk of change for an ASUS HD 5870.

In this review we intend to take the ASUS HD 5870 V2 around the block so to speak. Even though its performance is identical that of any other stock HD 5870 on the market, it has enough additional features that $20 could be money well spent. However, will it be enough?

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